The world faded in and out. A teary-eyed Naomi, with Lieutenant Bishop standing beside her, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder. A nurse changing her IV while she lay helplessly. An empty hospital room, the artificial light of the Presidium filtering through.
Finally she woke up. As Kelly consciously recovered from her drug-induced sleep, the room was still empty. Her entire body felt heavy. She didn't want to lift her arms, and even breathing was an extreme effort. The soft beeping of machinery comforted her, and she tried to match up each breath with the rhythm. She counted them in her mind. 1… 2… 3…
She had gotten somewhere in the hundreds when a nurse finally came in. "Oh, you're awake!" the young girl exclaimed, getting excited. She scurried over to the screens showing Kelly's vitals, and tapped the screen of the glossy datapad in her hands. "I'm Grace," she said, flashing a prizewinning smile at the redhead in the bed, and Kelly managed a weak grimace back.
"What happened?" Kelly croaked at her nurse, thinking back to the last thing she clearly remembered. She had gotten shot, kicked, hit. Cerberus soldiers had desperately tried to keep her awake while Naomi hovered in the background, loudly trying to choke back sobs. Fortunately, the trip to the Citadel wasn't arduously lengthy, thanks to mass effect engine technology. However, Kelly was sure she had fallen asleep, or at least fainted, long before they reached the space station.
"Well, you were shot by a man trying to hijack the ship you were on. Do you remember that?" the nurse asked, and Kelly slowly nodded. Everything hurt. "You've been out for a couple of days, so I wasn't sure how much you would remember. Anyway, he grazed the top of your right lung with a bullet, causing it to deflate. Luckily someone on the ship had some kind of medical knowledge and was able to create a seal over the wound so you didn't die instantly. Once you got here, we were able to reinflate your lung and fix it up. Thank goodness for modern medicine," she said, winking.
"You were also shot in the thigh, and fortunately it didn't hit any major veins or arteries. We were able to patch that up pretty easily, but walking should still be difficult for you over the next few weeks." Kelly attempted a frown in the general direction of her legs. They'd probably have her on crutches, or something equally as archaic.
"Don't worry about work or anything, we've informed your employer you're supposed to be resting up for a few weeks, until you can heal and walk again. Even with large doses of medigel, you'll still take a while to heal internal wounds like this, especially your lungs and shoulder muscles." The girl continued to chatter about Kelly's various dos and don'ts over the next couple of weeks, while the psychologist leaned back and closed her eyes. She didn't want to stay in bed for weeks, but at the same time, she was so exhausted. Her body was clearly going through endless amounts of work to heal herself, even if she couldn't actively feel it. The idea of having time off work, and yet not having the freedom to explore the Citadel, was painful to Kelly. She'd have to stay in her tiny apartment, watching vids to pass the time when she could be observing culture, trying foods, and watching entertainment shows. It wasn't exactly what the young woman had envisioned her first vacation to be like.
"Anyway, just give us a couple hours so we can keep monitoring your vitals, but we should have you out of here by this afternoon!" the nurses gushed excitedly, patting Kelly's arm a few times. The redhead opened her eyes and feebly turned the corners of her mouth upward. It definitely wasn't a smile, but the gesture wasn't insincere.
Once Kelly was checked out of the memorial hospital, laden with a pair of brand new crutches, she made her way back home. Cerberus had paid for all of her medical bills – something about the safety security on her job. Kelly knew exactly who was responsible for her injury. Naomi had been the person to approve the criminal's boarding the ship. She might have cost Kelly a couple weeks in bed, but she had probably cost the young man his life, whether Cerberus had executed him, or sent him back home to serve out some sort of prison sentence. The injury of Cerberus employees was clearly not taken lightly, and this was the second time Kelly had become injured on the job. Maybe it was about time she stopped trying to act heroic and just kept her head down.
When she finally reached her apartment, she opened the door with a scan of her omnitool, and shut it behind her. The dwelling was humble, as Kelly didn't have many belongings when she arrived. It was a studio apartment, only one bedroom and bathroom. When you entered the suite, there was a bed in the center, lilac sheets she had bought spread across the mattress. A kitchen counter lined the left wall, complete with a sink, refrigerator, and oven, and at the end of the wall was a door that entered her bathroom. To the right were large panels of glass windows, looking out onto the streets of the wards below. She lived just at the edge of the wards, close enough to commute to the Presidium daily. Kelly was just now regretting her decision to live on the seventeenth floor. She wouldn't have chosen that if she had known she was going to have a nonfunctional leg only a month and a half into her job.
Kelly badly wanted to shower, feeling disgusting from sitting in a bed for days, and it was the first thing she did. Luckily, the little shower had seats built in. Before now, Kelly had been grateful for them only because they were convenient to shave her legs on. Now, they served a much more important purpose.
She sat under the running water, allowing it to drip down her body and into the drain for quite a while. The psychologist focused on her breathing. It was still difficult to take breaths in and out, and she wondered how long it would be like this. Kelly wasn't allowed to do any strenuous activity until her lung was fully healed, but she couldn't even imagine doing anything more than hobbling around on crutches for now.
Once she had cleaned herself an appropriate amount, Kelly redressed her bandages and threw on some loose-fitting pajamas she happened to have brought from Earth. The soft cotton material felt good against her skin – much better than the dry fit, skintight outfits she'd become accustomed to wearing. She brushed her long, wavy locks, finding it to be a much more arduous task now that everything took extra effort. She considered cutting it off, but couldn't imagine getting to a hair dresser easily in this state. I wish Cerberus had paid for a nurse to come and check up on me daily, she thought to herself, ripping out a particularly difficult knot with a comb. Or even a personal hairdresser.
By the time she finished with all of this and pulled her hair up into a bun, the bed looked like a comforting relief. She had hopped halfway to it, when there was a knock at her door. The sound surprised her, and for a moment the psychologist considered not opening it. If it were Naomi and the Lieutenant, Kelly might not be able to make it through the night. But still, it might be someone important.
"I'll be right there!" she called out, as she slowly crutched her way to the door. She had no idea why these things were so difficult to operate, and she hoped that within a few days she'd be good enough to get around on them quickly. Once she reached the door, she peeked through the peephole.
A green salarian stood there with a paper bag clutched in his hands, looking rather nervous. Swinging the door open, Kelly greeted him with a smile. "Harsin," she said warmly, relieved that it was him and not her coworkers who had decided to drop by for a visit. She and the C-Sec officer had exchanged locations a while ago, but neither of them had visited each other yet. "What are you doing here?"
However, the salarian seemed to be fixated on her bandages and crutches. "Kelly. You were hurt," Harsin commented, and he seemed to be somewhat dumbfounded. He was still wearing his C-Sec uniform, so he appeared to have just come off work. Kelly gasped as she realized that, during her time in the hospital, she had been asleep nearly the whole time and hadn't had a chance to message him and tell him what happened.
"I'm so sorry, Harsin," she said, inviting him inside and closing the door behind him. "I've been out for days. I didn't even think of messaging you yet, it happened nearly as soon as we got out of Bekenstein's atmosphere. I'm so sorry."
"What happened?" he asked, concern filling his large, black eyes.
"I… I was shot. Some recruit Naomi let through tried to hijack the ship and I guess I just… got in the way." She shrugged noncommittally, her eyes on the ground. Harsin had heard his fair share of her complaints about Naomi, but it seemed a little silly to blame the whole thing on her. Kelly had gone up to the cockpit. If she hadn't though, maybe the recruit would have actually been able to take control and drive the ship wherever he wished before any kind of security officers were notified.
"I'm so glad you're alright," he said, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. Kelly weakly smiled up at the salarian, glad she had one friend on this whole blasted space station.
A moment passed before Kelly attempted to laugh the whole thing off with an awkward chuckle. Gesturing at the bag in his hands, she said, "What's this?"
"Oh," Harsin said, glancing at the item as if he had forgotten it was there. "Well, you hadn't responded to any of my messages. I was worried you were angry. Or sick. I bought you cookies. From a human, so perhaps they will taste familiar." He stretched out his arm to offer the pastries to Kelly, but realized her hands were full with the crutches, and retracted the bag.
Kelly's cheeks grew slightly warm as she recognized the gesture. It was the first move she had taken to be his friend, by bringing him those cookies as a thank you all that time ago. Harsin must have understood that to be some sort of friendly human custom, and decided to reciprocate. "Thank you," she said sincerely, a real smile creeping onto her face. When it was real, it didn't seem to take so much effort. "Here, you can join me on my bed," she said, giggling a little.
Harsin carefully assisted her across the room, and she propped herself up against a few pillows at the headboard. Harsin sat on her bed cross-legged, opening the bag of cookies. He offered one to Kelly, and devoured it. It was a simple sugar cookie, but considering she hadn't eaten for a few days, the little slice of home was absolutely delectable. "Go ahead and try one," Kelly said cheerfully. The salarian hesitated for a moment, but complied when she gave him an encouraging nod.
He swallowed the bite of pastry, and then grimaced. "Too sweet," he commented, with a small, rueful laugh. They ate in silence for a bit, until Kelly started conversation.
"It was very kind of you to bring these, Harsin," she murmured thankfully. He nodded in response.
"Glad I was able to come. I can't imagine you being cooped up here all by yourself. How long are you supposed to rest?"
"Weeks," Kelly sighed, "I don't even know what I'll do to entertain myself. I wish I could go out and explore."
Harsin paused for a second, looking at her questioningly. "Maybe I'll come and visit you then, when I'm finished work. Keep you company."
Kelly playfully slapped his knee, but smiled at the idea. "You don't have to do that," she responded weakly, but she was clearly choking up a bit. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again. What else could she even say?
Harsin studied her for a few moments, then said, "What are you doing now?"
"Well, I was going to try and get some rest," the psychologist admitted, although now that she had company she didn't really want him to leave. She'd been resting for days anyway, right? It would be rude to ask him to leave.
The salarian officer seemed to read the expression on her face, because he picked up the hologram controller on her bedside table. "Let's watch a vid or two," he suggested gently, turning on the hologram and scrolling through options. He chose something simple, a documentary on insects. Kelly had the hologram set specifically to show Earth- and human-based videos, so she was surprised he was alright with something like this. "I'd like to learn more about Earth," Harsin admitted, grinning a bit at Kelly's shocked expression.
Harsin put his arm around her, and she hesitated for a moment, then snuggled in close. The salarian didn't have a warm body like she'd expect a human to have, but it was still soft and pliable like human skin. She rested her head on her shoulder, and within moments the young woman had drifted off to sleep.
[[I'm glad to see that others are happy to see this fic up and running again! I've been meaning to continue this for a while, but things have been really crazy. Something about writing it again after two years of not is really comforting, though, and I'm glad to get this back on track. I'd really love any and all reviews on what I have so far – as I've mentioned before, I do have a storyline plotted out, but I want to see what my readers think about the direction it's going! Thank you so so so much for reading, and for staying invested in a real, substantial story about my personal favorite Mass Effect character. 3]]